Marc Sandalow: Giuliani’s Uphill Battle

Here in a nutshell is the problem for Rudy Giuliani, who is reportedly filing a statement of candidacy for president.

He’s pro-immigrant, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights and pro-choice, and spent his final years as mayor of New York City living with a couple of gay guys after his wife, who was starring in “The Vagina Monologues” threw him out of Gracie Mansion.

None of that will hurt him in the Bay Area, where Giuliani can compete for the considerable pool of donor money and the much less considerable pool of GOP votes.

But what about in an early primary state like South Carolina, where eight years ago John McCain was savaged with scurrilous rumors about his sanity because of his years in a prisoner of war camp, and his fidelity based on fathering a black daughter (the McCain’s adopted a kid from Bangladesh?)

Imagine how liberals would treat a Democratic candidate who was anti-immigrant, pro-guns, anti-gay rights, and pro-life.

Early polls show Giuliani remains quite popular with Republicans, apparently based on his leadership following the Sept. 11 attacks, his years as mayor, and his record as a tough, mob busting prosecutor.

The immediate question for Giuliani is whether he can do enough to satisfy his party’s conservative base in the primaries without doing himself mortal damage in the general election.